title: Outer membrane protein OmpW of Escherichia coli is required for resistance to phagocytosis.
abstract: Eight-stranded β-barrel outer membrane proteins can confer bacterial virulence via resistance to host innate defenses. This resistance function of OmpW, which was recently identified as an eight-stranded β-barrel protein, was investigated in this study. Our results demonstrated that upregulation of OmpW correlated with increased bacterial survival during phagocytosis. Bacterial mutants harboring a deletion of ompW exhibited a significantly increased phagocytosis rate. Both observations suggest that the OmpW protein protects bacteria against host phagocytosis. In addition, expression of ompW is regulated by iron, which implies that the resistance provided by OmpW may be an important factor in iron-related infectious diseases. Furthermore, OmpW has been identified as a protective antigen that protects mice against bacterial infection and is therefore a promising target for vaccine development against infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Xian-Bin
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Li-Hua
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Hai-Jie
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Chang-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhi-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chen-Hong
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Fu-Kun
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jian-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000276:immunology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D050296:Microbial Viability; D010587:Phagocytosis; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; C064035:ompW protein, E coli; D007501:Iron
keywords: Iron; OmpW; Outer membrane protein; Protective antigen; Resistance to phagocytosis; β-barrel